Posted: 2/12/2012 3:03:37 PM EDT
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So last night I learned that a friend of mine (and my wife's co-worker) lost her Lab when he was run over, it was a pretty ugly mess. I took some time and wrote her a letter expressing our sorrow, and then I thought about our dogs, and I kept writing...
The Nail in the Garage Wall There was a 16 penny nail in the wall of the small work shed at the last house we rented; I know this because I put it there soon after we moved in. On it, hung a nondescript collection of dog collars, some leather, some web, some with patterns, mostly plain, all of them faded, with stray hairs, some a deep, rusty red, others black or brown, curly, short, some grey. Tags adorn their metal loops, quietly fading to a patina. Doesn’t look like much, this faded jumble of old collars, and you wouldn’t give it much thought if you even noticed them at all. But to me, they are my dear sweet dogs, each of them steeped in fond remembrances of a beloved friend who has gone on, memories of a cold nose against my side at night, a fierce, "life or death" game of tug of war with an old piece of rope or a stick, a low, rumbled growl that woke me in the wee hours of the morning, harkening me; “Beware! Something was not as it should be!” A wagging tail and a piercing “yip”, when I stumbled through the door at the end of a long day, hated by some, scorned by others, clearly a failed wretch, not worthy of my stripes, nor certainly my anchors, but that tail, those bright inquisitive eyes, they told me always, I was loved, and would always be, no matter what… That nail was pulled out of that shed wall when we moved, the old rusty nail and those tired collars moved with us, to our first ever “bought” house, and found again a home, a place of honor, in my garage. I’ll add another collar to that nail someday, most likely sooner, sadly, rather then later, for that is how the circle goes on, I wouldn’t have it any other way, nor I hope, would they… ...anyhow... 
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